Saying Goodbye again...

I have to pause on the fun summer postings to let you know how our Tuesday went this week. Our sweet 14 year old yellow lab, Millie, has not been doing well for the last year. We have been putting off the inevitable because while she has been pretty much staying in the garage for the last year and a half, she seemed to still have some spirit left in her. When we arrived home Saturday, T said it was time. She was not doing well.

So after calling the vet on Monday and crying on and off all day (that was me doing the crying, Millie was always more mine than T's), we told J about it on Tuesday afternoon so he could decide if he wanted to be outside or not with us. The vet came that evening and J wanted to be out there with us. We were so proud of him because while you know it's for the best, it's still hard to do. He loved on Millie before the vet and T got her ready, then he and I stood back and watched. I have now been present for 3 animals who have been put to sleep and while I hate that we have to lose our pets, I can attest to the fact that it is the most peaceful and humane thing to do. They simply fall asleep and the vet checks to make sure all is done correctly.
He and T both petted Millie after she was gone, then T put her in a grave next to Max. Since she was never a ball-chaser like Max (we buried a tennis ball with him last year), J decided to bury a piece of cheese with Millie. Perfect. Course then we all had a giggle thinking about how that piece of cheese (still in a plastic wrapper) would probably still be found perfectly in tact in 100 years along with a tennis ball and dog bones, giving the person digging quite an interesting find :-)
We miss her and while we still have 2 dogs (ok...4...counting the 2 we are still "babysitting" and YES I still call it that b/c I am in denial that they quite possibly are permanent residents right now!), Millie's death marks kind of the end of an era. Max and Millie were the 2 puppies we purchased soon after getting married and before J was born, they had been through so much with us. They were incredible pets.